“When I first opened the email, I was perplexed – then, as I read on, I was touched. Sadly, I had no idea how to solve the issue, so I could only forward it to other departments and hope for a miracle.” said Kasy Lee, Assistant Manager, Cards & Personal Loans, Consumer Banking Group & Wealth Management. An urgent request had been sent by a credit card client looking for a crystal mahjong set – a welcome gift for DBS Compass Visa card clients 11 years ago.
(From left to right) Cherry Leung, Assistant Vice President, Cards & Personal Loans, Consumer Banking Group & Wealth Management
Phoebe Ho, Vice President, Cards & Personal Loans, Consumer Banking Group & Wealth Management
Janice Yip, Assistant Manager, Credit Card Customer Centre, Technology & Operations
Kasy Lee, Assistant Manager, Cards & Personal Loans, Consumer Banking Group & Wealth Management
Describing the incident as ‘one of a kind’, her colleague Janice Yip, Assistant Manager, Credit Card Customer Centre, Technology & Operations, elaborated, “In the email, the client had written about his elderly mother who loved playing mahjong. Unfortunately, her favourite crystal mahjong set, which was a gift from her late friend, had been misplaced in the course of several moves over the years. Noticing how this had left her depressed, adding onto her already deteriorating health, the client became worried. After searching high and low for it to no avail, he came to us for help, hoping to redeem a new crystal mahjong set at any cost.” Recognising the mahjong set for what it really was – a symbol of old friendship and happy memories – Janice immediately shared the email across the other credit card departments.
A precious memento, the crystal mahjong set embodied the bond between two old friends.
Upon receiving the news, Phoebe Ho, Vice President, Cards & Personal Loans, Consumer Banking Group & Wealth Management, took it upon herself to share the story to more than a hundred colleagues through various channels. “All of them were enthusiastic about helping out and spread the word to their own social circles. Some even took the initiative to contact ex-colleagues and tried to track the mahjong manufacturer by checking documents from 11 years ago!” Although there seemed to be little to no hope, no stone was left unturned as they all saw themselves in the shoes of the client, who was doing his very best to complete his beloved mother’s search.
Mission accomplished, both client and team were pleased with the outcome.
Then – a miracle happened.
Cherry Leung, Assistant Vice President, Cards & Personal Loans, Consumer Banking Group & Wealth Management, who happened to work on the welcome gift campaign all those years ago, got wind of the story. “The mahjong set was popular back then, but I did not expect anyone to remember it to this day. To us, they were simply gifts; to the old lady, the mahjong set was a memento from a late friend. Since her son was our client, we were more than happy to help.”
The search came to a happy end a week later, when a relative of Cherry’s who had kept the mahjong set, gave it to her without hesitation. Mission accomplished, the team was elated and immediately arranged for it to be packaged and delivered along with a heartfelt letter. Grateful for the surprise, the client thanked the team for restoring his mother’s happiness.
After the incident, the four miracle workers learned to cherish the present.
In recounting the story, Kasy could barely contain her excitement. “No words are enough to express the satisfaction we felt in the end. In helping them, they also helped us – proving that human connection is indeed wonderful. We believe that banking is not only about wealth management; it is about communicating with our clients too. Although this experience will always be a precious memory to us, to find what was once lost is truly priceless for all.”